Proclamation 5306 -- National Consumers Week, 1985

March 4, 1985
By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

America's economy has been revitalized by the highest level of consumer confidence in nearly
twenty years. Our free enterprise system and the high productivity of American workers have
made such economic growth possible, providing the American consumer with an unprecedented
choice of goods and services.

As the range of consumer choice increases, competition compels our businesses to provide even
greater value for consumer dollars. Increasingly, business leaders respond to consumer
expectations by improving the quality, safety, and effectiveness of their products. Competition
also generates reliable servicing.

This year's slogan for National Consumers Week, ``Consumers Should Know,'' highlights the right
of consumers to information about the products offered them. Knowledgeable, selective
consumers make their dollars count. In that way, families not only enjoy better products but are
able to put more money aside for future needs. Those savings translate into business investments,
and that means growth for our Nation's economy.

Buyers and sellers alike should recognize the basic rights of consumers: the right to choice among
products and services; the right to information enabling them to make sound purchases; the right
to healthful and safe products; the right to be heard when products do not meet standards.
Government at all levels will continue its responsible stewardship of consumer safety as well as its
vigorous prosecution of illegal and deceptive practices. But in the final analysis it is the
knowledgeable consumer and the responsible business person whose decisions will determine the
success or failure of products and services in the competitive marketplace.

In celebration of National Consumers Week, I encourage schools, community organizations, labor
unions, businesses, the media, and consumers themselves to help further public awareness of
consumer issues and services. I urge American consumers to take advantage of this opportunity to
seek and use the wealth of information available to all.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby
proclaim the week beginning April 21, 1985, as National Consumers Week.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of March, in the year of our
Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America
the two hundred and ninth.

Ronald Reagan

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 11:10 a.m., March 5, 1985]